Winding apparatus



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WINDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 12, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2- i INVENTOR.

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WINDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 12, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.-

I ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDING APPARATUS Edward Snyder, Fort Wayne, Ind. Application August 12, 1933, Serial No. 684,876

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus adapted for winding wire upon a accumulator or spool in uniform layers and under constant tension throughout the winding operation.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an appliance for transferring wire from a supply spool or other source, through a treating apparatus, such as an enameling oven, onto an accumulator at a uniform rate of travel without materially varying the tension of the wire, and thus preserve the gauge of the wire throughout its length.

Another object is to provide a rewindin'g appliance for transferring wire from a supply spool to an accumulator, irrespective of any intermediate treating apparatus, in such manner that the Wire is wound in uniform layers upon the accumulator and under constant tension throughout the winding operation, and thus insure uniform compactness of the body of coiled wire on the accumulator.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a detail front elevation showing actuating mechanism for the guide support;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one of the winding units, portions being broken away and including part of'the guide support;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of one of the winding units including its complemental guide and the support therefor, portions being broken away; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view projected from Fig. 4.

The illustrative embodiment of the invention consists of apparatus having a base frame I upon which is mounted a series of winding units 2, a series of spools 3 for supplying wire to the winding units, a traverse mechanism, and actuating means for said units and traverse mechanism.

The winding unit supporting a brake-drum l concentrically theren. An her ba l hear g I l in t e s o k! c n centric with the spindle also affords support for said drum the hub of which extends into said bearing. The rear end of the hub of said drum is also supported upon the bearing 9 whereby the drum is prevented from tilting. The spindle 5 also receives support on the bearing II in the stock through the medium of its stem 6 and the bearing 9 whereby tilting of the spindle is obviated.

'Upon the rear end of the stem is disposed a 10 double ball bearing I2 that supports a drive head l3 provided with forwardly extending studs I4, each having thereon a pair of step gears l5-l6 that mesh respectively with the gear '1 on the stem 6 and the toothed hub ll of the brake bearings l9 in the stock. The ends of the 20 arbor are flattened and project into grooves 2| made in the hubs of the corresponding heads shaped to receive said flattened ends loosely so as to permit suflicient play as to avoid binding between the heads and the arbor during rotation thereof.

The arbors I8 of the several units are provided with drive wheels 22 that are operatively associated with a chain or belt drive 23 arranged in any suitable manner and connected with a power shaft 24 so that upon rotation of the power shaft all of said arbors are actuated thereby.

For each brake drum l0 there is provided a brake consisting of a lever 21 mounted upon a pivot 28 in the stock,'the inner end of the lever 3 being provided with a shoe 29 that has frictional contact with the complemental drum. The forward end of the lever has secured thereon transversely disposed a track preferably consisting of a rod 30. lever 21 is provided a vertically disposed threaded stem 3| that extends loosely through the lever and is connected at its top with a tension spring 32 at one end thereof, the opposite end of said spring being secured conveniently to an anchor pin 33 projecting from the stock 4. The lower end of the stem 3| has thereon an adjusting nut 34 that bears against the bottom of the lever 21. By turning the nut tension of the spring is increased or decreased accordingly causing more or less pressure of the shoe 29 to be exerted upon the drum I0 with a corresponding variation of frictional resistance to rotation of the drum.

When the arbor I8 is actuated in one direction In the outer end portion of the 40 of the planetary step-gears on their studs, and

the velocity of the spindles'in reverse direction is'thus'accentuated to a corresponding extent. When the drums are held stationary by their brakes the planetary gears l6 travel around the toothed hubs I! of the drums and revolve upon their studs, whereupon the spindles are turned reversely with respect to the driving arbors through the medium of the step-gears l5 and spur-gears 1 at a velocity consistent with the speed of the arbor due to the difference of ratio between the step-gears l5 and I6 and the gear parts with which they respectively mesh. The

drums, if freed entirely from restraint of their brakes, would then rotate idly' and the spindles, due to inherent friction between the hubs ll, step-gears I5 and I6 and spur-gears 1, would tend to rotate bodily in the same direction as the arbors, Thus, more or less torque is imparted to the spindles in one direction or the opposite accordingly as restraint is applied to or removed from the. drums.

In this manner the torque imparted to the spindles in the winding direction is sensitively decreased or vanishes entirely as the pressure of the brakes on the drums is reduced, due to rotation of thedrive-heads in the opposite direction and their consequent tendency to counteract the momentum of the spindles and spools thereon; Also, the torque imparted to the spindles in the winding direction is not increased because of lagging or inherent friction of the planetary gearing, but on the contrary the spindle torque is appreciably decreased and the pull of the wire on the spools is lessened so that the wire as it is wound upon the spools is not endangered by excessive tension as in the usual practice.

The traverse mechanism Mounted in connection with the base frame lat the front thereof is provided a horizontally reciprocating guide support 35 the lower rail of which rests movably upon grooved wheels 36 On the base frame. The guide support is held in upright position by connection at its top with a guide post 3'! that projects from the uppermost of the units 2. Reciprocating movement is imparted to the guidesupport by any suitable mechanism. As an example, there is shown (Fig. 2) a grooved cam 38 disposed on a countershaft 39 supported in bearings 4|] on the base frame, in the groove of which extends a follower 4| on the guide support, so that as the cam revolves lateral reciprocating movement is impartedto said support. Movement is impartedto the countershaft 39 from the power shaft 24 through the medium of suitable motion transmitting mechanism 42.

which extends loosely through a threaded sleeve 46 secured to the support 35 by a clip 4! thereon. The sleeve has at one end a thumb nut by which when turned in the clip in which it has threaded relation said shaft 45 is axially adjusted relative to the support 35. The clip is held in place by means of screws 49 which secure the sleeve in adjusted positions. The shaft 45 has at one end a head 50 provided with a stud 5| on which is loosely mounted a roller 52 that is adapted to travel upon the track 36 of the lever 21 of the corresponding unit. The arrangement of the guide with respect to the track of the brake lever is such that when the arm 44 is moved downward the track is depressed causing easeinent of the brake shoe 29 on its complemental drum l6.

Operation shown is for enameling wires 53 during transit:

thereof from supply spools 3 to accumulators 54 that are removably positioned on the spindles 5;

Preferably, the wires 53 are strung around feed rollers 55 and 56 in the base frame I and from thence pass through the treating device 51 to the accumulators upon which they are wound. The example shows a treating device having a vat 58 for enamel provided with a feed roller 59 extending horizontally therein over which is disposed an oven 66 upon the top of which are mounted idlers 6|. Also, in the frame structure 62 on which the oven is supported are idlers 63 and 64. The feed roller 56 is motivated from the drive shaft 24 conveniently through the medium of gears 65, and the feed roller 59 in the enamel vat is operatively connected with the drive shaft 23 through the medium of a chain drive mechanism 66. .Preferably, the feed rollers 55 are revolved by a chain or belt drive 61' that has any suitable operative connection (not shown) with the drive shaft. The purpose of motivating the feed rollers 55, 56, and'59 is to assist travel of the wires 53 without occasioning friction between the rollers and the wires and thus avoid distortion or impairment of the wires by stretching. The wires'53 travel from the feed roller 56 over the idlers 63. in the treating device and around the feed roller 59 through the'oven 66, y

then over corresponding idlers 6| back to and around the feed roller 59, and again through the oven and over the idlers 6 I. and from thence back through the oven 66 and under idlers 64 from which the wires are strung over the guide sheaves spindles 5 so that the spindles extend axially through the bores thereof and are held against the shoulders 5' on the. spindles, and U-shaped' springs 68 secured to the outer ends of the spindles press against the adjacent walls of the accumulators or extend in grooves (not shown). made therein so that the accumulators revolve with the spindles. By adjustment of the sleeves 46 the guide sheaves 43 are adjustably positioned so as to 'properly' traverse the accumulators and guide the wires as they are wound thereon.

It is highly desirable that the wires,.as they are wound on the accumulators, be coiled uniformly in layers and under substantially uniform tension, and it is also desirable that the wires when drawn through the oven are not subjected to excessive tension as stretching causes irregularity or a reduction in the gauge of the wires. As the individual wires 53 are drawn onto the accumulators from over the guide sheaves 43 upon rotation of the accumulators the sheave supporting arms 44 tend to swing downwardly because of the consequent tension of the wires, thus causing more or less pressure of the rollers 52 on the tracks 30 on the brake levers. As the pull upon the wires exerted by the accumulators increases, the pressure of the brakes on the drums is correspondingly reduced through operation of the guides, thus permitting the accumulators to accordingly lag which relieves the tension on the wires. In this manner the wires are wound upon the accumulators under substantially uniform tension.

One of the structural features of the invention is that the ends 4' of the stock 4 are removable and constitute the sole supports for the corresponding assemblages, each of which consists of' the spindle 5, drum I0, drive head l3, planetary gears, spur gear connected therewith and the brake lever for the drum, so that the assemblage may be bodily removed and replaced without interrupting operation of any of the other winding assemblages in the apparatus. Thus, by servicing the winding assemblages singly the productive capacity of the apparatus as a whole is thereby but slightly reduced.

I claim:-

1. In winding apparatus having a stock and traverse mechanism including a brake operated thereby, a spool supporting spindle rotatively mounted in said stock provided with an axially disposed stem, a brake drum supported rotatably in said stock and also on said stem engageable by said brake, a spur gear secured on said stem, a drive head mounted 'rotatably on said stem provided with planetary step gears operatively associated with said brake drum and spur gear, and an actuating rotative arbor axially alined with said stem operatively associated with said drive head.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a stock, a spool-supporting spindle rotatably mounted in said stock provided with an axially disposed extending free stem having a spur gear secured thereon, a brake drum provided with a bearing supported in said stock and a second bearing supported on said spindle, a drive head having bearings supported solely by said stern and provided with planetary step gears that have toothed engagement with said drum and said spur gear, a brake operatively associated with said drum, and a driving arbor mounted in said stock operatively associated with said head.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a stock, a spool-supporting spindle rotatably mounted in said stock provided with an extending free stem and spur gear secured on said stem, a brake-drum and brake therefor, said drum being mounted in said stock and on said spindle for rotary movement relative thereto, a drive head rotatably supported solely by said stem and provided with planetary step gears operatively associated with said drum and spur gear, and means to actuate said head.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a stock,

a spool-supporting spindle rotatably mounted in said stock provided with an extending free stem and spur ear secured on said stem, a brake drum and brake therefor, said drum having a supporting bearing in said stock and a second bearing affording support for said spindle, and a drive head having means for actuating same and rotatably supported solely by said stem and provided with planetary step gears operatively associated with said drum and spur gear.

5. In winding apparatus having a spool rotating means and a traverse mechanism including a movable guide support, said means having a brake provided with a rail secured thereon, a sleeve adjustable in-said support axially in a line parallel with said rail, a rock shaft disposed axially through said sleeve provided with a swinging arm having a sheave thereon for guiding a wire onto a spool on said rotating means and having also means engaging said rail to depress same more or less accordingly as said arm is swung.

6. In winding apparatus having a spool rotating means and a movable guide support, said means including a brake having an operating lever, a rail secured on said lever, a sleeve axially adjustable in said support parallel with said rail, and a rock shaft in said sleeve having means thereon engaging said rail to actuate said lever when the rock shaft is turned, and also'having an extending arm provided with a sheave for guiding a wire onto a spool on said rotating means.

7. In winding apparatus having a spool-supporting spindle and actuating means therefor, a spool traversing mechanism having a reciprocating frame, a sleeve axially adjustable in said frame in a line parallel with the axis of said spindle, a rock shaft supported by said sleeve having an arm provided with a sheave for guiding a wire onto a spool on said spindle, a rail secured on the brake lever of said actuating means extending parallel with said spindle, and an operating connection between said rock shaft and rail to actuate said lever as said arm is swung.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a rotatably mounted spool-supporting element having a gear secured thereon, a brake-drum disposed to rotate about the axis of said element associated With brake mechanism therefor, a drive head supported solely by said element upon which it has rotative movement relative thereto, said drive head having planetary step-gears operatively eni aged with said gear and brake-drum, and a traverse mechanism operatively associated with said brake mechanism for guiding a wire as it is wound upon a spool positioned on said element.

9. In apparatus of the class described, a rotatably mounted element having an extending spoolsupporting end and a free opposite end provided with a gear secured thereon, a brake-drum disposed to rotate about the axis of said element associated with brake mechanism therefor, and a drive head supported solely by said element upon which it has rotative movement relative thereto, said drive head having planetary stepgears operatively engaged with said gear and brake-drum.

EDWARD SNYDER. 

